Multi-position relay



June 6, 1961 N. H. CHRISTOPHER MULTI-POSITION RELAY Flled Oct' 8. 2 Shee.ts sheet l June 6, 1961 Filed Oct. 8. 1954 N. H. CHRISTOPHER MULTI-POSITION RELAY 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 United States Patent O 2,987,594 MULTI-POSITION RELAY Nathan Huil Christopher, Falls Church, Va. Filed Oct. 8, 1954, Ser. No. 461,298 2 Claims. (Cl. 20D-98) (Granted under rIitle 35, U.S. Code (1952), sec. 266) The invention described herein may be manufactured and used by or for the Goverment for governmental purposes without the payment of any royalty thereon.

This invention relates to rel-ays .and more particularly to means for adding materially to the exibility and utility of certain well known types of relays.

The principal object of the invention is to double the number of contact conditions available in certain kinds of relays.

Another object is to increase the number of contact conditions available in certain types of contact relays without fundamental change in the construction thereof.

A further object is to provide additional contact conditions as already mentioned with means `for selecting the various conditions in the order desired.

Other objects will be apparent from the reading of the following specification and claims.

In the drawings, FIGURE 1 is a plan view of a standard type relay modified according to my invention; FIGURE 2 is a side elevation of the modified relay; FIGURE 3 is an end elevation thereof; FIGURES 4, 5, 6 `and 7 illustrate in detail the modifying elements of the invention; and FIGURE 8 is a perspective view of the modified relay.

Referring to the drawings and more particularly to FIGURES l, 2 and 3 thereof, the relay shown is largely standard; it is commonly known las an IBM plug-in relay, and the details of the conventional portion of the device will not be described herein.

Suflice it to say that 4it comprises a frame 10 and an energizing winding 11 to which `current is fed through contact prongs 12 when the relay is plugged into an appropriate socket. -Pivotally mounted below the winding l11 is an armature 13 which is drawn upwardly when the winding is energized, and which thereupon moves a plurality of spring Wire contacts such as that designated 114, from their rest, normal, or break conditions upwardly to their so-called normal or make conditions.

The fixed contacts within the body of the relay may be seen from FIGURE 7 (especially) to be formed of a plurality of inverted substantially U-shaped wires, such as those designated 20 and 20. Each of these U-shaped Wires has an opening like the opening designated 21 in the wire 20. In so-called break condition, a spring wire contact 14 rests on contact portion 22 of its Ushaped member (20' in this case), whereas in the make condition the wire is drawn upwardly and against a contact portion 23 thereof. All U-shaped wires terminate in base prongs, such as those designated 24 and 25 in FIGURE 2. The current to be controlled enters the relay through other base prongs such as that designated 30 in this same figure.

The modification of my invention requires an additional winding 35, shown in the drawings Ias mounted above the frame 10, although, as will be more clearly understood from the following description, the principles of the invention are applicable to many different arrangements. The axis of the winding 35 is parallel to the plane of the spring wire contacts 14 and perpendicular to the several individual wires. The winding 35 may be energized by means of standard contact prongs or additional cont-acts may be provided depending upon requirements.

Cooperating with the winding 35 is a second armature 36 which pivots in notches 37 and 38 near its upper end on lugs 37 and 38', respectively, formed in and extending from a frame portion 39. A spring 40 serves to hold 2 this armature in its normal condition (see FIGURE 3), land to return the armature to this position whenever the winding 35 is de-energized.

Secured to the lower surface of the amature 13 in any convenient fashion are two substantially L-shaped members 46 and 47 which, when juxtaposed as shown, form a Tshaped channel transverse of the armature and of the spring wire contacts 1'4.

Into .this channel is fitted a contact wire carrier 45 which is adapted for sliding movement transverse of the spring wire contacts 14. The carrier 45 is provided with chamfered openings, shown at 45 in FIGURE 6, and the several spring wire contacts 1'4 are held therein, the openings 45 being dimensioned relative to the spring wire contacts 14 so that the latter are held snugly but not restrictively therein, it being desirable that some movement be permitted.

The carrier 45 is intended to be moved within its channel responsive to movement of the armature 36. Many possibilities will suggest themselves for pivoting the two elements together. In accordance with the embodiment hereof, the carrier 45 is provided with a slot 48 in the upper surface thereof, and the lower end of Ithe armature 36 is iitted thereinto. Binding of the parts is not likely in view of the small amount of movement involved; it can be avoided satisfactorily by `allowing perhaps .01 inch of clearance therebetween. This arrangement is especially suitable because the connection must permit a small amount of vertical relative motion. In other words, it must be possible to drive the carrier 45 in the position shown, and also when the carrier is lifted with the armature 13 by the action of the energizing winding 11. This can here be accomplished merely by allowing a clearance between the end of the armature 36 and the bottom of the slot 48.

To convert a standard relay of the type described and shown for the practice of my invention, the space beneath the plurality of stationary contacts, such as that shown at 20, is illed in with some suitable insulating material 50, any of numerous plastics being usable for this purpose. A slot 51 is then cut into the plastic in the plane of the opening 21, the result `being that two smooth opposed surfaces, as 52, are provided, with the several contact positions, such as 22 and 23, being ush with the smooth plastic surfaces.

The operation of the invention will be clear without extended description. Assuming the relay to be plugged in, with power available for connection to the windings 11 yand 35, but not owing therethrough, each spring wire contact 14 is in its normal condition. While this is nominally considered `the break condition, the spring wire contact 14 is in fact in contact with a contact portion like the portion l22 of U-shaped contact 20'. This may or may not close a circuit, depending upon requirements.

If the winding 11 now is energized, the spring wire contact 14, under the urging of the armature 13, is lifted into contact with the portion 23 of contact 20 which again may or may not form part of a circuit intended to be controlled.

If the winding 35 alone is energized or if, from a condition -in which both windings are active, the winding 11 is deenergized, the armature 36 is drawn toward the winding 35 and the spring wire contact `14, again in its lowermost position, is moved to the contact portion 22 of the adjacent contact 20.

From this, it follows that, in order to make the fullest use of the invention, there should be (as shown) one more pair of fixed contacts than there are movable contacts, but this is not essential.

Still further, if both of the windings 11 and 35 are energized, the spring wire contact :1-4 is moved laterally and upwardly so that it rests against portion 23 of contact 20,

one contact transversely removed from its normal position.

rIhe other contact springs act in like fashion and with similar results. y

lt will be seen that with relatively little modification of existing structure, it is possible, through the practice of my invention, to provide a much more versatile relay than is available in the prior art, Obviously, however, entirely new structures may also be `devised to embody the principles of the foregoing description. p Y

In this vein, it may be mentioned that the spring wire contacts of a standard rel-ay of the type herein disclosed are not mounted especially for lateral movement, but, instead, for vertical movement. It has been found, however, that neither the spring wire contacts nor their mountings need be changed for the practice of the invention hereof, since the contacts readily bend to the extent necessary. Were a new structure to be designed, on the other hand, it might be desirable to modify the parts indicated to eliminate the necessity for bending the contacts. Further, many modificationsV will suggest themselves. For the true scope of the invention, therefore, reference should be had to the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A relay comprising a first winding, an armature actuated thereby, a plurality of spaced-apart pairs lof opposed xed contacts, a plurality of movable contacts each juxtaposed with a different pair of saidrfixed ,contacts for selective engagement therewith and each normally resting upon one contact of its pair Ythereby normally to complete a plurality of circuits, lmeans dependent upon actuation of said armature for moving said movable contacts in one direction against the other contacts of said pairs thereby normally to complete a second plurality of circuits, a second winding, and means co-opelable simultaneously with said rst-mentioned means and dependent upon the energization of the second winding for urging said movable vcontacts transversfely witlgta respect to said one direction to cause themto cooperate with the fixed contacts of adjacent opposed pairsfztherebynormally to complete selectively two further pluralities of circuits.

2. A relay comprising a winding, an armature actuated thereby, a plurality of spaced-apart pairs of opposed fixed contacts,A a plurality -of movable contacts eachjuxtaposed with a Vdiiterent one of said pairs of xed contacts for selective engagement therewith andkeachjnormally resting upon one contact of its pair, means dependent upon actuation of said armature for moving said movable contacts in one direction against the respective opposed contacts of said pairs, another winding and a second armature actuated thereby, and means cooperable simultaneously with said first-mentioned means and dependen-t upon the actuation ofthe second armature fory moving said movable contacts to cause them to cooperate with the xed contacts of adjacent opposed pairs thereby normally to complete selectively two groups of circuits.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,528,761 Golf Mar. 10, 1925 1,946,777 ButuSOV Feb. 13, 1934 2,066,465 Friend Jan. 5, 1937 2,282,066 Lake et al May 5, 1942 2,665,343 Benson Jan. 5, 1954 

